SI View The Week in TV Sports

North Carolina at MarylandESPN2 7:30 PM Feeling Blue? Certainly fans of the once mightyTar Heels are. Last year North Carolina (5-5 through lastWednesday) swept ACC rival Maryland, including an 86-83 win inCollege Park. This season the Tar Heels have lost to Hampton andDavidson, and had a nail-biting 61-60 victory overSUNY-Binghamton, whose previous biggest claim to sports fame wasas the alma mater of Pardon the Interruption cohost TonyKornheiser. Even against the No. 8 Terrapins, though, don'tcount North Carolina out, especially given the presence of Heelssenior swingman Jason Capel, who was averaging a double double:16.4 points and 11.1 rebounds.

THURSDAY 1/10

PGA Sony OpenESPN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY 7 PM The Waialae Country Club's courseis nestled between Hawaii's majestic Koolau mountain range tothe north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. In last year'sSony, victor Brad Faxon was Koolau as a cucumber, goingwire-to-wire to win and tying the course record with a 20-under260. This year the 40-year-old Faxon will have something else onhis mind besides defending his title: He and his new bride,Dory, are expecting their first child later this month. Coveragewill continue on Saturday and Sunday (ESPN, 8 p.m. each night).

State Farm U.S. ChampionshipsABC 8 PM With three Olympic figure-skating berths on the line,tonight's men's free-skate contestants include current U.S.champ Tim Goebel, five-time champion Todd Eldredge and two-timechampion Michael Weiss. The latter is looking to regain the formthat vanished when he suffered stress fractures in his left footand ankle after winning the 2000 title.

ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN BIEVER

Don't Miss

TUESDAY 1/8

Lakers at PistonsTBS 8 PM Once upon a time during this rivalry Magic Johnson andIsiah Thomas would kiss before the tip-off. Let's hope ShaquilleO'Neal and Ben Wallace don't get similarly inspired. Led byguard Jerry Stackhouse (21.6 points per game through lastWednesday), long-downtrodden Detroit was off to a surprising15-14 start, including a 9-3 record at home. Meanwhile,defending champion Los Angeles was 7-4 on the road. In theteams' most recent meeting at the Palace at Auburn Hills, lastMarch 15, Stackhouse (above) tied the arena's scoring record of46 points (O'Neal and former Piston Grant Hill also hold themark), while Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 39, including 24 inthe fourth quarter and overtime of L.A.'s 125-119 win.

THE ZAPPER

U.S. soccer fans can forget that Berlitz course: ABC/ESPN willtelevise all 63 of this year's World Cup matches from Japan andSouth Korea live. Previously the only live U.S. coverage wasslated for the Spanish-language network Univision....The lead-inbefore the kickoff of ABC's telecast of the Orange Bowl featuredtwo businessmen discussing the merits of Florida quarterback RexGrossman. Not only was Grossman not starting because of a curfewviolation, but his replacement, Brock Berlin, led the Gators totwo quick early scores.

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything